2015 Value Summit Chennai: Exclusive CxO connect event

Thursday evening I received a media invite to attend what was called "Chennai Value Summit". I had no clue about this event and wasn't sure what it is. I was busy processing some videos and preparing for Saturday's activity. Out of sheer curiosity freed up my evening and went to Residency Towers in the evening to check out this Value Summit. I hadn't prepared anything and wasn't dressed optimally also (went in casuals instead of formals).

In the entrance a black Audi A6 without number plates greeted us. Learnt that Audi were the sponsors for current edition of Value Summit. I entered the venue, collected my pass and took a seat. A series of videos were being played in loop, videos in which panel members of the summit expressed their views, videos that depict value. I waited to see if some Audi signature videos will be played- there weren't any.

After reading the literature provided to us and interacting with the hosts, I got a sense of what this Value Summit is all about. Below is the excepts for your benefit

Value Summit is an invite only and elite event which focuses on networking and bringing together CxOs. It is the brain child of Bhawani Srivatsava who has trained over 10000 sales professionals. Audience largely included staff from companies whose CxOs were on stage and other invited people.

The panel discussion hovered around the value, which is said to be one of the most abused and misinterpreted word in corporate world today. (Strategy is the next most abused word)

Speaking first, Mahalingam spoke about aligning the vision and value of the corporation with behavior of people.
- If you talk policy, process, target, employees work expecting returns. If you talk passion and value, employees work to contribute
- Today there're many solutions for talent management, but all of them ignore passion. When employees park their vehicles and walk-in, they also park their passion outside.

Sridharan talked about dreams. He said Government teaching us value by bringing VAT. (if you buy for X and sell for X, there's no Tax. If you buy for X and sell for X+ something, tax applies on that delta). Sridharan also mentioned the logic to decide if people need motivation or training.
- Draw capability on one axis and commitment on the other. One with low commitment and high capability need motivation, one with high commitment but low capability need training, those with both high are born leaders and those with both low need to be sent out.

Sridharan sited example of Napolean. When people doubted if he can win wars, initially he fought against small enemies against whom victory was certain. Once that confidence and acceptance was in, he set a vision that Europe= France and France= Europe. People were willing to fight and die for this cause. Then he picked up bright people, trained them well and made them commanders in his army.

Rangarajan spoke next and recalled that he was good at helping people- with heart and with care. He recalled his first job with TVS Group, during which he saw a message by TVS founder, which said "We produce at Rs 8, sell at Rs 10 but customers should feel that they got things worth Rs 15". This perception is value.

Sadhana recalled the quote: IT+IT=IT (information technology + Indian Talent = India Tomorrow) . She also explained the CRAP every successful entrepreneur would have to face (Critics, Resistance, A***oles, Pressure).

Answering a question on mixing emotions with logic, Sridharan explained three phases of growth- Phase 1- Revenue & Customer matrix (Revenue per customer should keep growing), Phase 2: Gross Margin (if margin is dropping, competitor is gaining) and Phase 3- Scale (if fixed cost keeps increasing with increase in customers, model can not scale). He said he would move on from one venture to another whenever he feels his role is getting more n more administrative in nature.

I asked a question "How we can enable junior most level of employees are empowered to create value- because they are bound by metrics and other parameters which often focus on quantity not quality". Response emphasized heavily on need for effective communication.

The evening was summarized by K Jayaramakrishnan of TCS, who added his own insights as well.

I caught up with Bhawani during dinner- he shared his vision of expanding the Value Summit with specific themes- such as telecom, etc. He said event will continue to be an exclusive and invite only one and strives to connect right people.